Fresh blow for Van Gaal as United share price slumps

Asked about his future, Van Gaal, 64, accused media of “inventing” the story and said there was no need for United to issue any kind of denial.

Arsenal registered their first league win since January 2, having played out two 0-0 draws and lost 1-0 to Chelsea, with Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey heavily involved in both goals.

“I think we played a superb game”, said the United manager. “Why does the club have to deny it, when you are creating stories?” van Gaal was quoted as saying by the Independent on Monday as the Dutchman responded to queries by a journalist. But are van Gaal’s methods beginning to bear fruit?

The back pages of nearly every newspaper sing a chorus of “done deal”, with Mourinho said to have told “close friends” or “pals” that he expects to be United manager next season.

Chelsea suffered a fresh injury blow as centre back Kurt Zouma was stretchered off just before the hour mark and now faces an agonising wait to find out how long he will be sidelined. Smalling and Costa had a great battle all match, with the United centre half again showing his quality by closely marking the Chelsea forward tightly – whilst stepping in front of Costa to read the passes into him. Whilst Chelsea’s underachievement this campaign is considerably more than United’s and brought about a managerial change that would have seemed unthinkable last summer, both squads are struggling to justify the huge amounts of money it cost to assemble them.

Andreas Pereira earned and converted a spot-kick in the victory while Timothy Fosu-Mensah also found the net in the win, which puts United one point behind leaders Sunderland in the Under-21 league.

But with the Red Devils now six points adrift of a Champions League place, a change of manager is on the cards. De Gea remains a game saver and shows a consistency that other players must aim for.

For all of United’s good work, it was undone by a poor decision by substitute Memphis Depay late on in the match. Wayne Rooney has been a direct beneficiary and is playing with more confidence as he edges towards becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer – he is now five behind Sir Bobby Charlton’s 249.

Lingard spoke about this concept after United’s impressive victory over Stoke in midweek, implying that Van Gaal had afforded his creative players more flexibility. The Europa League will be taken seriously, as will the FA Cup, but it’s still a time of considerable uncertainty. Who do you want?